The invention relates to apparatuses and methods for producing containers from a thermoformable sheet material. The containers produced with the apparatuses and the methods according to the invention are suitable for being filled with liquid or pasty products, which possibly solidify after being cooled, or with powder or loose products. Such containers, after being filled, can be used in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and similar industries.
In some countries in which low-cost labour is available, it is known to package products inside containers made of thermoformable material by performing a large number of operations manually. This packaging method has the drawback that, in addition to requiring a very long time for producing finished containers, may give rise to defects in the finished containers if operators commit imprecisions during manual operations.
In order to overcome these drawbacks, a production line is known for producing containers comprising a forming unit for obtaining a plurality of cavities on a sheet material. A filling unit, arranged downstream of the forming unit, enables the cavities obtained on the sheet material to be filled. The production line further includes a welding unit, positioned downstream of the filling unit for thermowelding a closing sheet on the sheet material on which the cavities are obtained, and a cutting unit arranged downstream of the welding unit to separate single containers or groups of containers from the sheet.
The known production line, whilst it enables packaging operations to be speeded up and good-quality containers to be obtained, is not particularly versatile. Further, such a line is suitable for serial production of large quantities of containers, but it is not suitable for producing small batches of containers that are different from one another, as occurs when samples have to be arranged to check whether consumers will like a certain type of product.